My journey toward an adoption mindset started a long time ago, but I didn’t realize it until I watched Hotel Rwanda. I’d heard about adoption often. My friend told me that I should read Adopted for Life by Russell D. Moore, and asked me to help her brainstorm about how to begin a foundation that might be able to help families afford the cost of adoption. Another friend had a heart to work with orphans in third-world countries. A couple in my church, after years of infertility, successfully adopted an adorable little girl. Some friends of ours adopted multiple times from all over the world, combining a family of children with Asian, African, Hispanic, and Caucasian roots. My work at a crisis pregnancy center put me into contact with adoption agencies in the area, since adoption is a beautiful (and often undervalued) option for women facing unplanned pregnancies. I had always considered adoption a wonderful thing, but it didn’t personally impact me until about a year ago. The Beginning of the Journey Hotel Rwanda is a devastating, difficult film about the 1994 genocide, in which the Hutu majority slaughtered thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In the midst of the crisis, a particular hotel owned by an international company became a kind of refugee camp. At one point in the movie, the United Nations begins the evacuation of all white people in the region, leaving the Tutsis to the Hutus. One particular scene stood out to me.
The journey continues I began to read through LifeLines, the magazine for adoptive families by Bethany Christian Services, a reputable adoption agency that facilitates adoptions all over the world. I expected to be informed, but I didn’t expect to be impacted. Yet over and over, I felt this still, small voice whisper to my heart: “This is you. You will need to know this information someday. These stories will be like yours someday.” I requested a copy of Adopted for Life for Christmas, and eagerly read through it. I am generally composed when I read books, but I found myself weeping over every single chapter as I read of the Russell’s struggle with infertility, and the horrific environment in which they found their two oldest sons, whom they adopted from Russia. But I wept especially over the immense love of the God who looked at a people without beauty or righteousness to recommend them, and who said, “You are my children now, and I am your Father.” When we were still orphans, Christ became a substitute orphan for us. Though he was a son, he took on the humiliation of a slave and the horror of death (Phil. 2:6-8). Jesus walked to that far country with us, even to the depths of the hog pen that we’d made our home, and hung on a tree abandoned by his Father in our place… A Future of Adoption I don’t know what my future holds, but I know that, as long as I live, I will advocate for adoption, by supporting those who choose to adopt and—Lord willing—by one day becoming the mother of a child, or many children, who do not share my genes, but who share my heart. I know adoption is not easy, nor as romantic as some stories present it. That’s why I’m learning everything I can about the process and transition, so that I will have realistic expectations and practical understanding when the time comes. I worry about how my physical and financial limitations will affect adoption, but I am convinced that the Lord will work those things out. Whom He calls, He also equips. I’m praying for my children. They may not yet be born, but I have children somewhere in this world, and when the time comes, I will seek them diligently. And when I have found them, I will wrap them in my arms and tell them how I learned to love them, because I was sought and found and loved too. Romans 8:14-17
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Meet YaashaNone of my life has gone the way it was "supposed to go," but I don't love my life any less because of the hardships and new directions. I see so much unexpected good in it, and I want others to see the good in theirs. Archives
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